On the Fifth Day of Christmas
“Your 2010 Christmas present is 12 memorable meals out over the next 12 months, featuring:
Michelin Stars
Celebrity Chefs
Spanish Tapas
Modern Seafood
Modern Italian Cuisine
High Class Dim Sum
in London, Surrey and farther afield.”
On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…” a Lunch Flavour Journey at Drake’s at the Clockhouse in Ripley, Surrey.
“Mmmmm.” “Yum.” “Wow.” “Amazing.” “Who would have thought to combine those flavours?”
Such are some of the comments we made during our Lunch Flavour Journey. Steve Drake has maintained his Michelin star for seven years running and it’s no surprise. His food is good, extremely good. His flavour combinations are exciting, unusual, perhaps even a bit quirky, and often unexpectedly good. In Steve’s own words:
“Flavours and textures are what I am looking for in my dishes. It might be reinvention of an old classic, although not always obvious, or an interesting flavour combination – not experimenting but creating and evolving, being inquisitive, whilst always retaining a good balance of flavours.
“I find food exciting and this is what I try to convey on the plate.”
We were certainly excited by our lunch; John said in his blog that “it was probably the best lunch I have ever experienced.” In terms of quantity, quality and balance of flavours, I would have to agree. The taste sensations created by Steve Drake are quite simply outstanding.
Our Flavour Journey began with a pre-luncheon glass of Champagne in the restaurant’s garden to celebrate John’s birthday. This was accompanied by an amuse bouche of chicken liver parfait on a curry meringue topped with an apple shard; it was so gorgeous that we dove in and gobbled it up before we remembered to photograph it!
Inside the dining room with its subdued decor that lets the food play on centre stage, our proper journey got under way.
Pea Soup
Champagne, pink grapefruit
Absolutely exquisite, this light and refreshing starter brought together unexpectedly complimentary flavours in a perfectly executed dish.
Squid
Pork, pineapple, Swede and roast squid
Further intriguing our tastebuds, Steve married the earthiness of swede with the sweetness of pork and pineapple, all of it offsetting the iodine freshness of the squid.
Brill
Seaweed gnocchi, broccoli, sea vegetables, almond
Almond and fish? Yes, resoundingly, yes.
Venison
Beetroot, Douglas fir, celeriac
Red and gold beetroot enhance the intense venison, while the celeriac provides an earthy backdrop to a smoking skewer of Douglas fir.
Carrot
Coconut, lime
Sweet, dehydrated flakes of carrot mimic traditional dessicated coconut as the real thing in the coconut ice cream gets a tropical zing from a glutinous lime jelly.
Chocolate
Peanut, biscotti, malt, milk chocolate
A scrumptious peanutty nougat-like cone vies for pride of place with malt ice cream and a milk chocolate mousse.
Steve came out of his kitchen to chat with us about Thermomix and his menu. He speaks with passion about both, visibly and audibly enjoying the flavour journey he prepares for his guests. We enjoyed sharing Steve Drake’s flavour journey with him and would gladly travel with him again.
Bon appétit !
